After coming back from US I am all about catching up with excellent British TV (and the BBC have just upped their ante with fascinating documentary by professor Helen Beard about life in ancient Rome) and one of the programmes on the iPlayer was a brilliant cooking programme by a British girl in Paris - Rachel Khoo. After, ekhem, devouring indeed, the whole of the series available on iPlayer until wee hours in the morning I made a mad dash this afternoon to get my hands on the copy of her cookbook.
It is exactly what I was after to prompt me into cooking a bit more in my shoebox size kitchen in our Edinburgh flat (which I was able to avoid recently, I must admit). Rachel's kitchen in her Belleville flat (and she demonstrates it on screen when she stretches her hands and is able to touch both walls of her kitchen) has no space for dozens of pots and pans or that ultimate British object of envy aka the Aga. Instead Rachel creates her magic with a mini oven and two gas rings!
Though we have not moved too far from Jamie's territory – David Loftus did the pictures for the book (and Rachel illustrated the chapters) with his beautiful little depth of field and tilt and shift effect known from Jamie's publications.
I've had a long conversation about Rachel with the guy at Waterstones bookshop when I was buying the book, his face lit up from within when I passed it on to him at the checkout. It turned out that he is watching the programme too, though he admitted that it not necessarily the recipes but rather the prettiness and natural charm of the cook herself that draws him in. I do agree as I cannot take my eyes off Rachel's perfectly drawn in trace of black eyeliner and rouged pout. Though using loads of butter and full fat cream ('If you have to cook, do it properly' as she puts it) is what I like as well, not to mention her charming, slightly chipped metal bowl to whisk all the ingredients in. Aha, one more Rachel's advice – when you're mix in it the batter for your madeleines a la crème au citron, fold it in with your wooden spoon while turning the bowl at the same time.
All I need to do now is to get my hands on a multitasking Le Creuset casserolle dish and a mini nutmeg grater. Et voila!
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